Nail-driving device



Aug. 15, 1939. T. A. ROY

NAIL-DRIVING DEVICE Filed Nov. 16, 1937 X77706 77/2307": TfLOTTbCZ/O'16. 1Q

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Patented Aug. 15, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NAIL-DRIVING DEVICEThomas A. Roy, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application November 16, 1937, Serial No. 174,814

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a nail driving device and particularly to adevice for driving and setting nails in the tongue and grooved boards ofhard wood floors.

The object of the invention is to provide a light,easily handled deviceof the character mentioned, wherein nails may be fed automatically intoposition to be driven manually at an angle into floor boards above thetongue provided thereon without danger of marring or otherwise injuringsaid boards.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple effective meansfor releasing the nails one at a time and discharging them into drivingposition.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure wherein adriver head and work-em gaging foot therefor are yieldable rotatably andlongitudinally with respect to each other.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel means for holdingthe nails in driving position out of engagement with the work until thenail is contacted by the driver.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a simple eifectivemeans for absorbing the rebound of the driver on its return movementafter each nail driving operation.

The invention consists in a device for driving nails as set forth in thefollowing specification and particularly as pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a nail driving deviceof this invention positioned to drive nails in the tongue and groovedboards 35v of ahard wood floor; the handle portion of the device beingbroken away to save space in the drawing.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the device looking in the direction ofthe arrow in Fig. 1, a portion of the driver head being broken away andillustrated in section.

Fig. 3 is a detail transverse section as taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail transverse section as taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of thedrawing.

In the drawing, 5 represents a driver head having a flanged portion 6embodied therein to which an arm I is secured in any suitable manner.The arm I is preferably constructed of wood and has a handle 8 attachedthereto at a suitable location thereon. Extending through thehead '5from top to bottom thereof is a bore 5 9 in a lower portion I0 of whicha work-engaging member or foot II is loosely mounted, said foot beingyieldingly supported in the head 5 by means of a pair of helical tensionsprings l2 which are attached at their upper ends to said head and attheir lower ends to said foot in a manner to permit a restrictedyielding rotary movement of the foot in said head and also permit alongitudinal movement of the head andfoot relatively to each other. Thesprings l2 will act to efiectively return the foot II to its normalposition in the head 5 after each nail driving operation while thedevice is being moved from one nail driving position to another and isout of contact with the work. The foot II is provided with a flatwork-engaging face having a groove I4 provided therein adapted toreceive the tongue l5 of a matched floor board I 6 of well-known type ina manner to hold the device correctly positioned with respect to thetongue of the board during a nail driving operation and when the deviceis positioned as illustrated in Fig. 1. The foot H has a nail passage Ilextending downwardly therethrough positioned to discharge nails I8through the face I 3 of said foot at a point just above the groove ittherein, and said nail passage I! has tapering portions I9 and 20embodied therein at the upper end thereof, while the lower portion ofsaid passage is cylindrical in form and just a trifle larger in diameterthan the diameter of the heads of the nails utilized.

Slidably mounted in the head 5 within the up-. per portion of the bore 9is a reciprocatory plunger 2| constituting a driver for the nails It.The driver 2| is normally held in an elevated position in the head 5, asillustrated in Fig. 1, by means of a spring 22 which is interposedbetween the top of said head 5 and a head portion 23 of said driver,said head portion 23 being adapted to be contacted by a suitablemanually operated hammer during the nail driving operation. The lowerportion of the driver 2| is reduced in diameter at 24 to fit the lowerportion of the nail passage I! in the foot H. The driver 2| is preventedfrom rotating in the head 5 and the upward movement of said driver iscushioned by means of a yieldable pin 25 which is slidably mounted inthe head 5 in parallel relation to the driver 2!, said pin having alaterally bent portion 26 embodied therein which projects into alongitudinal groove 21 provided in said driver. A helical spring 28 isattached at its upper end to the lower end of the pin 25, while thelower end of said spring is attached at 29 to the head 5. Nor-V mallythe spring 28 pulls the pin 25 downwardly and holds the lateral portion26 thereof in contact with the top surface of the head 5, and the spring22 pushes the driver2l upwardly with the lower extremity of the groove21 contacting with the lateral portion 26 of the pin and therebyrestricting the upward movement of said driver. The downward pullingaction of the spring 28 is considerably greater than the upwardlypushing action of the spring 22, but after the driver 2| has beencontacted by a hammer to drive a nail I8, during the return movement ofsaid driver upwardly, the spring 28 will actto cushion the blow causedby the lower extremity of the groove 21 contacting'with the lateralportion 26 of the pin 25. i

' r The nails I8 are delivered to the head 5 to be driven one at a timeby the driver 2I bya mechanism as follows: Extending lengthwise of thearm 1 and secured thereto in any suitable man ner is a tubular nailchute 3!] having a longitudinally extending slot 3| provided thereinthrough which the shanks of the nails project, the heads of said nailsbeing contacted by the opposite edge portions of said slot and the nailshanging in an upright position from said chute.

' The nails I8 are supplied to the chute 39 from a suitablehopper whichmay be ofv any well known type. The lower endportion of the chute'30 issecured'to the head 5 within a member 32 which is fastened to said head,and said chute terminates adjacent to a separator slide 33, mounted inthe head, above a delivery passage 34 also provided in said head andcommunicating with the bore 9 above the upperextremity of the nailpassage" provided in the foot I I- The separator slide 33 is shoulderedat 35 to supportthe head of a nail I8, and notched at 36 to receive theshank of said nail, andnormally the notch 36 is positioned opposite theslot 3|. in the chute 30 so that the lowermost nail in said chute isdelivered into said notch" with the headof the nail resting upon theshoulder 35 of the separator. The separator 33 is moved laterally of thechute 30 in order that a nail held in said separator may be releasedtherefrom and discharged'into the delivery passage 34 from which it willdrop point down intothe passage I1 provided in the foot I I by means ofa rod 31 pivotally attached at its lower-end at 38 to the head 5 andatits upper end operatively connected to the separator. 1

A rocking movementis transmitted tothe rod 31 from the driver 2| througha'pin 39 which is slidably mounted in the head 5. The inner end of thepin 39 projects into the bore 9 and into the path of the driver 5 and iscontacted during the downward movement of said driver by a flat bevelledsurface 40 provided upon the side of the driver. At its outer end thepin 39 is provided with a head 4| which is slotted at 42 to receive therod 31, and the latter is held in said slot and 7 said driver willcontact with the inner extremity of. the pin 39 and force thelatteroutwardly 5, see Fig. 3, and the nail will be pushed off the separator33 and willdrop point down into the delivery passage 34 from which itwill drop into the passage 9 beside the driver 2! which at this time isdescending and completing thedriving of a previously positioned nailinto a board. When the driver ZI rises after completing a driving andsetting operation, the nail will drop into the passage I1 where it willbe intercepted by a spherical stop member 45 which is located within arecess 43 provided in the foot II, said stop member projecting into thepassage I1 a suflicient amount to temporarily stop the downward movementof the nail in said foot until the next driving, operation. Thespherical member 45 is backed up by another spherical member 41 and therecess '46 by means of an arcuate spring 48, one extremity of whichprojects into the member 7 41 andthe other extremity of which projectsinto a recess provided in the opposite side of the shoe I I from that inwhich the members 45 and 41 are located. During each driving operationas the lower portion 24 of the driver 2| contacts with the head of anail positioned within the foot I I ,both of said members are yieldinglyheld within the spherical members 45 and 41 will yield in uni-,

son to permit the passage of said nail through the successive board I6of a floor is placed in posi-- I tion upon the rough false flooringlocated therebeneath, a workman carrying a device in one hand. and ahammer in the other hand, places said device-against a board I6 in sucha manner that the tongue I5 of said board projects'into the groove I4 ofthe foot II. At this, time the foot I I is free to yield rotatablywithin the driver head 5 if the occasion so demands, and a nail IB isheld in driving position within the passage I1 of said foot out ofcontact with the work by means of the yieldable spherical stop member45. When the device is correctly positioned with" respect to the floorboard the head 23 of the driver 2| is contacted by a suitable hammeractuated ,by the workman and said driver is forced downwardly againstthe action ofthe spring 22.

In descending, the portion 24 of the driver 2| contacts with the head ofa nail [8 which up to this time has been held in driving position withinthe foot II out of contact with the work, and said nail is driven andset with one blow of the hammer upon said driver. During. the downwardmovement of the driver 21, a nail is released from the nail chute 30 bycontact of the bevel 40 with the pin 39, which through the spring 31'actuates the separator 33, and is discharged into the nail passage 34where it remains until it is permitted to drop into driving positionwithin the foot II when the driver rises. During the upward movement ofthexdriver under. the influence of the spring 22, the lower extremity ofthe groove 21 provided in said driver contacts with the portion 26 ofthe yieldable pin 25, where-' upon the spring 28 willact to cushion thedriver as it reaches the limit of its upward movement. With each naildriving operation, as the driver descends and contacts with a nail, thedriver head 5 is permitted by the springs I2 to yield upwardly withrespect to the foot ll while the latter is held in contact with the edgeand lower face of the tongue of the floor board (see Fig. 1). There is,therefore, a yielding recoil of the driver head 5 upwardly after eachblow of the driver 2|. Each blow of the driver in driving a nail willalso apply pressure to the board to force the same toward the previouslylaid board and into close relationship with said board. Successivedriving operations are repeated as may be required to fasten the boardsIE to the false floor located therebeneath, the foot II with a nail I8positioned therein being moved along said board with the tongue of thelatter located within the groove I 4 provided in said foot and thelatter yielding rotatably Within the head as occasioned by the positionof the head with respect to the board. In moving the device of thisinvention from one position to another a nail is always held in drivingposition within the foot II.

I claim:

1. A nail driving device of the character described comprising, incombination, a driver head, a driver for a nail operable therein, awork-engaging member yieldingly mounted in said head beneath saiddriver, means to feed nails to the head, means to release said nails oneby one from said feeding means to drop into said work-engaging member,and a spherical member yieldingly intercepting a nail within thework-engaging member and holding said nail in driving position out ofcontact with the work until contacted by the driver.

2. A nail driving device of the character described comprising, incombination, a driver head, a driver for a nail operable therein, awork-engaging member loosely mounted in said head beneath said driver toyield rotatably and longitudinally with respect thereto, means to feednails to the head, means actuated by the driver to release said nailsone by one from said feeding means to drop into said work-engagingmember, means to hold a nail in driving position within thework-engaging member and out of contact with the work until contacted bythe driver, and means to cushion the return movement of said driverafter a nail driving operation.

3. A nail driving device of the character described comprising, incombination, a driver head, a driver for a nail operable therein, aworkengaging member mounted in said head beneath said driver, said workengaging member and head being yieldable rotatably and longitudinallywith respect to each other, means to feed nails to the head, means torelease said nails one by one from said feeding means to drop into saidwork-engaging member, and means to hold a nail in driving positionwithin the work-engaging member.

4. A nail driving device of the character described comprising, incombination, a driver head, a driver for a nail operable therein, awork-engaging member mounted in said head beneath said driver, said workengaging member and head being yieldable rotatably and longitudinallywith respect to each other, means to feed nails to the head, means torelease said nails one by one from said feeding means to drop into saidwork-engaging member, means to hold a nail in driving position out ofcontact with the work until contacted by the driver, and means tocushion the return movement of said driver after a nail drivingoperation.

5. A nail driving device of the character described comprising, incombination, a driver head, a driver for a nail therein, a work-engagingmember loosely mounted in said head to yield rotatably andlongitudinally therein, means to release nails one by one to drop intosaid workengaging member, and means to hold a nail in driving positionout of contact with the work until contacted by the driver.

6. A nail driving device of the character described comprising, incombination, a driver head, a driver for a nail therein, a work-engagingmember loosely mounted in said head to yield rotatably andlongitudinally therein, means actuated by the driver to release nailsone by one to drop into said work-engaging member, means to hold a nailin driving position out of contact with the work until contacted by thedriver, and means to cushion the driver upon its return to its normalposition.

7. A nail driving device of the character described comprising, incombination, a driver head, a driver for a nail therein, a work-engagingmember loosely mounted in said head to yield rotatably andlongitudinally therein, means actuated by the driver to release nailsone by one to drop into said work-engaging member, and a memberyi-eldingly mounted within the work-engaging member and yieldinglyintercepting a nail and holding the latter in driving position out ofcontact with the work.

8. A nail driving device of the character described comprising, incombination, a driver head, a driver for a nail yieldable longitudinallyin opposite directions in said head, a work-engaging member looselymounted in the head beneath said driver to yield longitudinally Withinthe head, means to feed nails to said work-engaging member, and means tohold a nail in driving position within the work-engaging member.

9. A nail driving device of the character described comprising, incombination, a driver head, a driver for a nail yieldable longitudinallyin opposite directions in said head, a work-engaging memberlooselymounted in the head beneath said driver to yield longitudinally androtatably within the head, means to release nails one by one to dropinto said work-engaging member, and means to hold a nail in drivingposition within the work-engaging member and out of contact with thework.

THOMAS A. ROY.

